LANDSLIDES AND ROCK AVALANCHES 



283 



that similar cracking and subse- 

 quent saturation may have started 

 the Cimarron sHde. 



Cross and Howe, in a reconnais- 

 sance of Ute Creek, a tributary of 

 the Rio Grande, in 1903 found evi- 

 dence of a landsHde that had oc- 

 curred in comparatively recent 

 times, intermediate in character be- 

 tween that of the Cimarron slide 

 and the incipient slide near Rico. 

 The area covered by the Ute Creek 

 slide is about one-fourth of a 

 square mile, and while no trees ap- 

 peared to have been actually 

 thrown dowm as a result of the 

 slip, most of them had been dis- 

 turbed and stood at considerable 

 angles from the vertical ; the trunks 

 of many were buried for several 

 feet by fine sandy soil, which stood 

 in steep slopes in an extremely un- 

 stable condition. Although this 

 soil was dry, the horses sank into 

 it so deeply that thev were extri- 

 cated with no Ititle difficulty. The 

 general condition of the locality 

 suggested that a series of heavy 

 rains might so saturate the soil as 

 to cause a renewal of the move- 

 ment with a violence comparable to 

 that of the Cimarron landslide. So 

 we may hear of more "earth- 

 quakes" in the San Juan region, with 

 possible destruction of mining towns. 



THE MOST TERRIBLE ROCK .WALANCHE IN 

 HISTORIC TIMES 



To realize the terrific efifect of recent 

 landslides, when associated with human 

 activities, one must turn to the accounts 

 of such catastrophes as the great Elm 

 landslide in Switzerland in 1881, or the 

 Frank slide in Alberta in 1903. 



The town of Elm is the highest village 

 in the Seriif Meadow. Overshadowing 

 it rose the steep Plattenbergkopf. the 

 outmost buttress of a greater mountain 

 mass. About half way up this hill was 

 a fine slate bed, which was mined in a 

 careless manner for school slates. A 

 crack began to form above the mine, 

 steadily widening, and sphttmg the top 



'9^' 



^^H^' 



TREE SPLIT BY LANDSLIDE MOVEMENT NEAR 

 TOWN OF RICO 



This area may be preparing for a general landslip 



of the hill. It grew to be over 12 feet 

 wide, swallowing up all surface drain- 

 age. Every one seemed to have agreed 

 that the mountain would ultimately fall, 

 but no one thought the danger imminent. 

 Rocks began to fall at intervals. Sep- 

 tember II was a rainy Sunday. Rock 

 masses kept falling, and the mountain 

 groaned and rumbled. People gathered 

 at the foot of the laboring rocks to watch 

 the falls. Many were interested, but 

 none foresaw real danger. Yet the vil- 

 lagers then stood viewing an imj^ending 

 convulsion that not all the human engi- 

 neering abi]it\- in the world could avert. 

 Suddenly a mass of the mountain 

 broke away from the Plattcnbergkopl, 

 crashed down over the slate quarry and 

 spread out upon the flat. No one was 

 killed bv this fall, though the rocks 



